BPS Supt. Proposes School Closures

Boston — Boston Public Schools Superintendent Carol Johnson is expected to unveiled a proposal Thursday that would close, merge and move schools in an effort to close a $63 million budget gap.

The details of the proposal, published briefly on the BPS website Thursday afternoon, included eight outright school closures, five school mergers and four expansions.

Johnson said the proposal is intended to cut costs related to empty seats across the district. "We have far too many school buildings for the number of students we serve," Johnson wrote in a statement. "Those empty seats cost millions of dollars every year -- money that would be better used on academic efforts."

Johnson said she marked schools for closure, merger and expansion based on criteron including academic performance, turnaround capacity, enrollment numbers and the availability of other options.